1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a toy vehicle having a chassis travelling by means of wheels on a driving surface and with a body which can be fastened thereon.
2. The Prior Art
In known toy vehicles, the body is designed in a predetermined manner and is connected with the chassis in a complicated way by bent pieces or wedging means. Aside from the fact that such toy vehicles require complicated use of tools for accessing their interiors, perhaps for changing the power source or for repairs, the retention of the body is also imperative. Exchange of the body is either not possible or requires a difficult adaptation to the chassis or requires a chassis adapted to the respective body.
3. Summary of the Invention
It is an object of the invention to provide means for attaching any desired body on the vehicle chassis while retaining the same vehicle chassis.
This object is attained in accordance with the invention in that the vehicle chassis has fixed on the side towards the body at a distance adjacent to each other a number of pegs and the vehicle body has fixed on the side towards the chassis at the same distance and in relation to the pegs a number of sleeves which can be pushed onto the pegs of the vehicle chassis so they are frictionally engaged. The pegs and sleeves are preferably arranged in rows on the vehicle chassis or the vehicle body, an arrangement in multiple rows of the pegs or sleeves having proven advantageous and resulting in solid connections. In this way the pre-conditions for a simple exchange of any desired body on a vehicle chassis which can be retained unchanged are given by means of a simple plug procedure. Fixing each body to be used on the vehicle chassis or taking it off can be done without tools. To adjust for variations, the stubs are appropriately provided with adjustment pieces extending beyond their circumferential surfaces, which provide clamping engagement by their deformation when the sleeves are pushed on. It is to be understood that the adjustment pieces may also be provided on the inner circumferential surface of the sleeves, while the pegs are smooth on their outside.
The design of the toy vehicle provides that the structure of the vehicle chassis be formed boxlike by two vehicle chassis parts disposed on top of each other and connectable in a plane parallel to the plane of the driving surface, both of which can be connected by means of a peg disposed on a chassis part and a sleeve provided on the other chassis part, which can be pushed on the peg. The vehicle chassis thus formed is used, besides as a support for the wheels, for containing the power sources and transmission as well as the drive motor. Suitably one chassis part may be used as a reception chamber for a low voltage power source and a reception space for the drive motor, while the other chassis part receives a wheel drive, the electric conductors at least partially and a switching device. Protrusions or flanges provided on the chassis parts may be used to hold down the power source and the electrical conductors which are formed, for example, by loosely inserted conductor tracks. Fixing of the drive motor in the receptacle of the one chassis part may be made by means of frictional clamping. The electrical connection between drive motor and electric conductors is made by simply pressing them together.
It is provided in a further embodiment that the two chassis parts are provided with half shells which together form bearings for the vehicle wheels or wheel axles. In particular the two front vehicle wheels may be placed into two identical half shells extending one above the other, one of which is disposed on an extension of the upper chassis part and the other on the lower chassis part. Suitably, however, the rear vehicle wheels are fixedly disposed on an axle which is placed in recesses of both chassis parts.
It is further provided that each of the front vehicle wheels engages the half shells by means of a cylindrical axle journal in a freely rotatable manner and that the axle journals rotatably engage an annular groove provided in the half shells by means of annular bodies or sections of annular bodies fixed to the axle journals and extending beyond the circumferential surfaces of the same for the purpose of axial fixation of the wheels in the half shells. Preferably the axle journals are formed by tube or sleeve sections. The design provides the possibility of mounting the wheels by simple plugging operations, the axle journals contributing to the mounting of the wheels with only little play because of their relatively large diameter, while the annular bodies or annular body sections keep axial bearing play within narrow limits. Mounting of the wheels on the chassis can take place without tools and the otherwise customary molding of metal parts for axles or shafts is not necessary.
In accordance with a preferred design the half shells can be supported against each other axially and transverse to the longitudinal axes of the half shells by means of grooves and springs formed on their common interfaces. Suitably one of the half shells has the springs, while the associated other half shell is provided with grooves. There is also the possibility of providing a spring on each half shell and a groove diametrically opposed to the spring.
It is to be understood that the annular bodies and the annular grooves may have any desired cross-sectional shape and cross-sectional size. In accordance with a preferred design the annular bodies and the annular grooves are made with a trapezoid cross section. Because of their mutual support the wedge faces of the trapezoidal shape lead to a mounting of the wheels which is particularly free of play. It is possible to make the annular bodies and annular grooves with semi-circular cross sections.